While Tesla's so-called "Autopilot" and "Full Self-Driving" features have generated more than their share of controversy, one of the company's other assisted driving modes is now in the spotlight after a nail-biting crash in California.
As SFGate reports, a young Tesla driver walked away with minor injuries after his Model Y careened off the I-5 interstate and crashed directly into a guardrail in the wee hours of morning, becoming impaled all the way through.
According to California Highway Patrol spokesperson Myles Anderson, who spoke to SFGate, the 23-year-old driver was using Tesla's "lane assist" and cruise control features when the collision occurred.
Though the local CHP office claimed in a Facebook post that the Tesla veered off the highway for "unknown reasons," Anderson noted that police did not arrest the driver and have no reason to suspect he was inebriated or under the influence.
Still, in that same post — which also featured some truly gnarly photos of the crash's aftermath, including the guardrail penetrating out the back of the vehicle like a giant metal shish kabob — the local highway patrol cautioned safety when using assisted driving features.
"Driving a vehicle requires 100 percent attention to the road," the CHP's post warned. "Avoid distractions and focus on driving."
A Tesla Model Y driver walked away from a harrowing accident with only minor injuries on Monday, after the vehicle was impaled by a guardrail. pic.twitter.com/mL5tV5nweo
— TESLARATI (@Teslarati) July 8, 2025
This is, unfortunately, not the first time we've heard about a Tesla getting impaled.
Last year, a black Tesla was speeding down the 215 Freeway near San Bernardino, California when it collided with two other cars, rolled over multiple times, and became impaled on a metal fence pole.
In that occasion as in this one, there were no serious injuries — except in that case, four people survived rather than one, and as video of the crash's aftermath shows, the pole missed the front passenger by mere inches.
On that occasion, no assisted driving feature was named as a cause of the crash, though the drivers of the other two cars involved in the collision had just left a concert before the incident occurred.
In the more recent impaling incident, Tesla fanboys were quick to claim that the people inside the cars escaped with their lives because of the company's safety features — but honestly, it seems that in both scenarios, it was pure, dumb luck that saved their lives.
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